Social Policy Review

Leading experts in the field present an up-to-date and diverse review of the best in social policy scholarship over the past year. This volume considers current issues and critical debates in the UK and the international social policy field. It contains vital research on race in social policy higher education and analyses how welfare states and policies address the economic and social hardship of young people. The contributors also consider the impacts of austerity on the welfare state, homelessness, libraries and other social policy areas. Published in association with the Social Policy Association, this comprehensive volume will be of interest to students and academics in social policy, social welfare and related disciplines.

The global impact of the COVID-19 pandemic has made the annual Social Policy Review even more critical than before. This comprehensive volume addresses critical debates throughout the international social policy field over the past year with a key focus on responses to COVID-19 and implications for social policy. Expert contributors address important issues including foodbanks, caring for older family members, lockdowns around the globe, gender, technology and migration during a pandemic. Published in association with the Social Policy Association, this annual review is fundamental reading for students and academics in social policy, social welfare and related disciplines.

Bringing together the voices of leading experts in the field, this edition offers an up-to-date and diverse review of the best in social policy scholarship over the past year. The book considers a range of current issues and critical debates in UK and international social policy field. It contains vital research, including discussions on the changing landscape of occupational as well as corporate welfare in the UK, the continuing impact of austerity on various social policy areas and the challenges currently faced by the NHS. Published in association with the SPA, this comprehensive analysis of the current state of social policy will be of interest to students and academics in social policy, social welfare and related disciplines.

This edition brings together specially commissioned reviews of key areas of social policy and considers a range of current issues within the field. The book contains invaluable research, including discussions on modern slavery, childcare and social justice and welfare chauvinism, as well as a chapter centred on the Grenfell Tower fire. Bringing together the insights of a diverse group of experts in social policy, this book examines critical debates in the field in order to offer an informed review of the best in social policy scholarship over the past year. Published in association with the SPA, the volume will be of interest to students and academics in social policy, social welfare and related disciplines.

Social Policy and Practice in Canada: A History traces the history of social policy in Canada from the period of First Nations’ control to the present day, exploring the various ways in which residents of the area known today as Canada have organized themselves to deal with (or to ignore) the needs of the ill, the poor, the elderly, and the young. This book is the first synthesis on social policy in Canada to provide a critical perspective on the evolution of social policy in the country. While earlier work has treated each new social program as a major advance, and reacted with shock to neoliberalism’s attack on social programs, Alvin Finkel demonstrates that right-wing and left-wing forces have always battled to shape social policy in Canada. He argues that the notion of a welfare state consensus in the period after 1945 is misleading, and that the social programs developed before the neoliberal counteroffensive were far less radical than they are sometimes depicted. Social Policy and Practice in Canada: A History begins by exploring the non-state mechanisms employed by First Nations to insure the well-being of their members. It then deals with the role of the Church in New France and of voluntary organizations in British North America in helping the unfortunate. After examining why voluntary organizations gradually gave way to state-controlled programs, the book assesses the evolution of social policy in Canada in a variety of areas, including health care, treatment of the elderly, child care, housing, and poverty.

This bold new textbook represents a significant step forward in social policy teaching by combining comparative and global perspectives. Introducing readers to a wide spread of international challenges and issues, the book shows how insights into policy can be generated using a comparative and multidisciplinary approach. Global in its canvas and analytical in its method, the book: • explores the economic, social and political contexts of social policy; • examines in detail its institutions and fields of practice; • illustrates the field’s main ideas, themes and practices, drawing on a rich international literature and using pertinent and thought-provoking examples. Authored by two highly respected and experienced academics, this book demonstrates the rewards of studying social policy from an international perspective by avoiding the constraints of a single-nation focus. Clear, authoritative and wide-ranging, it will be essential reading for students of social sciences taking courses covering social policy, social welfare and comparative policy analysis.

Welfare states face profound challenges. Widening economic and social inequalities have been intensified by austerity politics, sharpened by the rise in ethno-nationalism and exposed by the COVID-19 pandemic. At the same time, recent decades have seen a resurgence of social justice activism at the local and transnational level. Yet the transformative power of feminist, anti-racist and post/decolonial thinking has become relatively marginal to core social policy theory, while other critical approaches – around disability, sexuality, migration, age and the environment – have only selectively found recognition. This book provides a much-needed new analysis of this complex landscape, drawing together critical approaches in social policy with intersectionality and political economy. Fiona Williams contextualizes contemporary social policies not only in the global crisis of finance capitalism, but also in the interconnected global crises of care, ecology, and racialized borders. These shape and are shaped at national scale by the intersecting dynamics of Family, Nation, Work and Nature. Through critical assessment of these realities, the book probes the ethical, prefigurative and transformative possibilities for a future welfare commons. This significant intervention will animate social policy thinking, teaching and research. It will be essential reading for anyone wanting to understand the complexities of social policy for the years ahead.

′Strong social policy is essential for sustainable growth. This book is an extremely useful overview of social policy issue for policy makers and anyone who wants to understand the true roots of successful sustainable development′ - Ian Johnson, Vice President for Sustainable Development, The World Bank ′Throughout the world issues of social development have now taken centre stage. There is no more comprehensive and readable guide to the choices and conflicts of this global drama. This book is essential reading for all students and practitioners of social development - and for every World Bank economist′ - David Piachaud, Professor of Social Policy, London School of Economics This much-needed textbook fulfils a major gap in providing a complete up-to-date guide and introduction to the increasingly important role of social policy in the context of development processes and practice. Across a number of key sectors and areas of social policy concern, the authors accessibly introduce and explain the main conceptual debates, the most recent policy discussions, and provide applied examples to illustrate the latest developments in the social policy and planning field. Central topics covered include: - poverty - rural development - urban development - education - health - social work - social welfare - international development and cooperation. Social Policy for Development is an essential text for all students and practitioners alike seeking a deeper understanding of the issues of poverty, social exclusion and deprivation across social policy and development studies internationally.